Two teenage girls who sneaked out of a Portland hotel where they were staying on a school-sponsored overnight trip were found drinking alcohol in a downtown Portland bar Thursday night, officials said.

The girls, ages 14 and 15, had tried to enter four other bars in Portland's Old Town before they were granted access to Harlem at 220 S.W. Ankeny St. A 22-year-old man whom the girls met that night helped them enter the bar, according to the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.

A bouncer at the first bar who had turned the girls away watched the pair try to enter other bars and alerted inspectors from the liquor commission.

Inspectors found the girls at Harlem about 11:30 p.m., said Christine Scott, an OLCC spokeswoman.

The two girls
were each cited for being minors in possession of alcohol and released to school authorities at the scene. The girls had traveled to Portland for a sports competition from a private school in the Midwest, Scott said.

The 22-year-old
man, Parker T. Riley, was arrested on allegations of furnishing alcohol to minors.

Harlem will
face administrative charges, including failure to check for identification and
allowing minors into a prohibited area, Scott said.

“These two young girls
could have gotten themselves into a lot more trouble if the bouncer
hadn’t been proactive in contacting our inspectors to intervene,” said OLCC's public safety director, John Eckart, who retired from the Portland Police Bureau. “We
rely very heavily on our relationships with the businesses in Old Town
to prevent this type of thing from happening.”